According to blabbermouth.net during a interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford publicly discussed his homosexuality back in 1998 during his appearance on MTV News which showed what it was like to be a closeted man in the 1980s while other rock musicians began to feel what glam rock was.

“When you think about the glam rock movement, what it was, specifically, two bands that really pushed that for me were MÖTLEY CRÜE and Poison — and, to some effect, Cinderella, maybe some Winger and L.A. Guns . There was a lot of stuff coming through at that moment in the glam rock era. And definitely Sebastian [Bach, then-Skid Row singer], you know, when guys looked like girls. And that worked. And I could never quite figure that out, because of the homophobic stuff that was going on in the ’80s. And there’s all these guys with makeup on, looking … I have to watch my words here, but you know what I’m saying? Looking in a specific way, that everybody else is like, ‘Yeah, man, they’re really hardcore,’ and all that kind of stuff. And then me as a closeted gay man, it’s like, ‘Am I missing something here? How am I not able to come out for fear of losing my career and my band, but these guys are going out there looking like they do, and everybody’s falling over them?’ Not everybody, but, you know, just the general perception of the imagery was just, everybody has to look that way. Everybody has to dress that way. It [was] a remarkable time in heavy metal and rock to think about in a broader sense.” said Halford

Last year K.K. Downing did confirm on Robb Flynn’s No Fuckin’ Regrets With Robb Flynn podcast that himself, the other members of the group and the band’s management knew about Halford’s sexuality and were accepting despite how Halford was told to be quiet duo to the given nature of the metal world.